Review of Rise of the Guardians (2012) by Thomas W — 15 Jul 2013

While the story itself might be rather weak, the stunning visuals and beautiful array of colors onscreen should win most viewers over. When an evil spirit known as Pitch (voiced by Jude Law - Alfie) begins to claim the powers and abilities of some other-worldly beings known as The Guardians -- Santa (Alec Baldwin - The Cooler), the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman - Wolverine), the Sandman and the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher - Wedding Crashers) -- they must band together with a newly-selected prospective Guardian, Jack Frost (Chris Pine - Star Trek) -- to overtake the dark powers threatening the world by ridding the world's children of these said Guardians.

The story hinges a lot on Jack and his own feelings of unworthiness and the film kind of becomes rather muddled in its central premise as there is a lot of his self-pity and doubt; but there are moments in Rise of the Guardians (especially those with the smiling, mute Sandman) that really shine.

The film aims to please both younger and older audiences and I believe it succeeds on most of those fronts although I think some of Jack's self-doubt will be too heavy for a younger set of eyes to watch and understand.

The film concludes a bit too easily -- as most animated films do -- but it is somewhat impactful at its conclusion. The film is cute and it has charm but as I often say -- it could have been even more so.

It does score some points for its inclusion of yetis and its depiction of elves, though.